Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Uniqueness of probability allows for assertion

But until it had been demonstrated that [the probabilities] are uniquely determined by the data of a problem, we had no grounds for supposing that [the probabilities] were possessed of any precise meaning.--E. T. Jaynes and G. Larry Bretthorst, from "Probability Theory: The Logic of Science (emphasis mine)

I take this to mean that any experiment whose results are debated is under question because either 1) the logic of the critics is flawed or 2) there is not enough information in the data to reach the argued for conclusion to a large degree of plausibility. Uniqueness of the probabilities assures this. Furthermore, there can be no argument for the truth or falsehood of the claims.